Mop



March 19, 1\940. D, AR|OL| 2,194,214

MOP

Filed NDV. 30, 1937 Patented Mar. 19, 1940 Unirse STATES eATENr orFicE 2 Claims.

The present invention relates to an improved mop, and more particularly to an improved dry mop.

One important aspect of the invention involves the provision of a mop head which may consist solely of a single ,piecel of heavy wire directly secured to the handle without the necessity for employing any additional fastening means, the

y wire being arranged to receive the mop body which may be detachably mounted thereon with out necessity for employing any additional parts such as clamping devices or the like. The mop body may be readily removed for washing or for replacement when desired, The various parts oi the mop are so arranged that a very simple and sturdy structure is provided having especially eiiicient cleaning ability and having its component parts so arranged that scratching of the furniture, baseboards or the like is precluded.r

To permit these desirable results, the mop head preferably consists of a single piece of wire hav,- ing a helical portion which is threaded onto the end of the mop handle in such a manner that the mop head is held tightly in place. 'Ihe wire head also includes an open loop extending from the helical portion and having a free end onto which the mop body may be fitted.

The mop body may comprise strands of yarn secured to a sheath which slidably tsonto the wire loop. The sheath preferably has a closed end to afford a covering for the end of the wire loop and preferably is arranged so that it may bend more readily in one direction than in the opposite direction thereby to facilitate its proper r positioning on the head.y The sheath preferably is provided by a single piece of tape', this tape being provided with two runs extending on opposite sides of the layer of strands of yarn and being stitched to each other by stitching extending through the yarn layer. The tape also provides a third run connected tojone of the other runs by a fold at one-end oi the mop body and secured by stitching to the margins of the other runs. Thus the sheath is provided with one side which may comprise a single layer of tape and with the other side comprising two layers of tape with yarn therebetween. The last-named lside of the sheath is accordingly relatively stiffer, vand as a result the sheath is naturally directed onto the wire loop in a manner to bring the yarn ends into the preferred position, the thinner and vmore iiexib-le side of the sheath naturally passing onto the inner side of the Wire loop. Whenthesheath has been fitted over the wire loop, the fold at the end of the sheath affords a pocket enclosing and covering the free end of the wire so that the same is not exposed to scratch furniture, base boards: or f the like.

In order to permit an especially eliective cleaning action, the yarn is non-symmetrically arranged relative tov the sheath. Thus, for example, the yarn ends extending from one side v of the sheath may have a length of the order of twice the length o1" the yarn ends extending from the opposite side thereof, the parts being ar- 10 ranged so that the shorter ends depend within the wire loop and the longer ends depend from the outer portion of the loop. Such an arrangement is particularly advantageous since the shorter ends tend to become hunched under the loop, i. e., '15 under the handle, and since the longer ends tend to uli outwardly to cover a substantial area of the floor, affording a light, ufly cleaning surface, while the somewhat compacted shorter ends in eectafiord a pad under the handle and the wire loop.

A further feature of the invention involves the provision of a protector of rubber or the like for ythe wire helix of the mop head. 25

in the accompanying drawing: v

Fig. l is an elevational view of a mop handle and a mop head constructed in accordance with the present invention, a rubber protector for a portion of the head also being shown in this gure; '30

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mop head;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the lower portion of the mop, a portion of the yarn being removed;

ig. 4 is a plan view of the mop body;

Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4; and

Fig. 6 is a section indicated by line G- of Fig. 3, but being on a larger scale.

A mop constructed in accordance `with this invention may be provided with a wooden handle l having a conventional cylindrical end portion to which the improved mop head 2 is secured. This head may comprise a single piece of relatively heavy and stiff, somewhat resilient wire. The wire may be formed to provide a helix 4 including several coils having an internal diameter corresponding to orslightly less than the diameter of the handle I, The head 2 is also provided with an open loop portion 3 provided with a free wire end 5l adjoining the helix 4. The loop portion y may be of any desired form, for example, of. the form shown, or it may be triangular, if pre-y ferred. In any case the wire loop preferably is symmetrically disposed relative to the handle; for example, as shown in Fig. 1 it may have similar loopI portions at either side of the handle. The

loop may also lie substantially in a single plane from which the handle extends at an angle of the order of 35 to 45, as shown in Fig. 3. The wire adjoining the free end 5 may be provided with a slight gradual curvature, but this portion of the wire and, in fact, the entire open loop, is provided with substantially straight sections connected by gradual bends and is free from sharp bends or angular portions, so that the sheath of the mop body may readily be applied or removed.

The head 2 is applied to the handle I by screwing the helical wire portion Il onto the handle. As this screwing action takes place, there is a tendency for the Wire to form a shallow groove in the wood, the depth of the groove being but a minor fraction of the diameter of the wire. Thus the helix has an action somewhat resembling that of a thread-forming die. Furthermore, as the head is being applied, the torsional action on the wire helix tends slightly to increase the diameter thereof so that the wire can be readily secured to the handle. On the other hand, when the head is once in place and one attempts to unscrew it from the handle, there is a tendency for the diameter of the wire helix to be decreased so that the helix grips the handle more tightly and a snubbing effect is alforded. Accordingly, a simple arrangement is afforded by this construction for permanently securing the head to the handle.

The mop body preferably is provided by a layer oi strands, e. g., wool yarn or the like, secured to a suitable sheath ID which ts over the wire loop 3. Such a mop body may be provided by arranging a yarn layer Y between adjoining runs I2 and I3 of a tape I4 (Fig. 5), the end of the tape being disposed at one end of the yarn layer Y and the tape being folded or turned about the opposite end of the layer, as shown. When the tape is in this position, the runs may be secured to each other and to the yarn by a single layer of stitching S extending through the central portions of the tape runs (Fig. 6). The tape may then be bent over its rst-narned end to provide a fold l5, shown at the left of Fig. 5, and a third tape run provided parallel to the rst two runs which engage the yarn. The third run may then be secured to the other runs by lines of stitching S1 and S2 which extend through the margins of each of the three tape runs. These lines of stitching may have portions at the end of the sheath adjoining the folds IB, as indicated by reference characters S4 and S5. This arrangement of the sheath provides one side thereof which affords a rm retaining means for the yarn and which is considerably stiffer than the other side thereof which only comprises a single layer of tape. Accordingly the sheath more readily flexes in one direction than in the other and is naturally applied to the wire loop 3 with its more flexible side at the inner portion of the loop.

The fold I6 cooperates with the end stitching S4 and S5 in affording a closed end for the sheath in which the free end 5 of the wire is received. Thus a pocket is provided for this wire end to preclude scratching of articles of furniture.

Preferably the sheath I0 is secured in nonsymmetrical relation to the yarn Y, the yarn having longer ends extending from one side of the sheath and shorter ends extending from the opposite side thereof. Thus the longer portions of the yarn may have their ends spaced from the median line of the sheath at a distance substantially twice as great as the spacing therefrom of the ends of the shorter lengths of yarn. When the mop body is secured to the mop head, as shown in Fig. 3, it is accordingly evident that the shorter ends of the yarn depend from the inner portion of the wire loop while the longer ends depend from the outer portion thereof. Due to the relative stiness of the outer side of the sheath, the yarn tends to assume the position shown in Fig. 3, the greater length of the longer yarn ends in part compensating for the higher position of the side of the sheath from which they extend, but the greater length of these yarn portions also aiords distinctly longer strand sections for engagement with the floor.

The practical advantages of such an arrangement are that the short ends tend, as is usual in dry mops, to afford a more or less tangled and hunched group of strands bearing the weight of the mop head and of the lower part of the handle, while the longer strand ends extend outwardly to aiord a relatively fluffy and light group of strands to engage a considerable area of the floor over which the side surfaces of the stands are naturally dragged during use of the mop. Since a substantial area is thus provided for engagement with the surface of the floor, an unusually eiective cleaning action may be readily obtained while this portion of the mop may readily be freed from dust. Obviously, during use, the mop is naturally positioned at an angle of the order of 45 to the iloor.

When necessary, the mop body may be easily slid 01T the wire loop for Washing and when, after a plurality of washings, it is desirable to replace the mop body, this can readily be done.

In order to afford further protection for furniture, baseboards and the like, I provide a suitable rubber protector 22 which may be slid downwardly over the upper end of the handle to fit over the wire helix 4. This rubber protector 22 is provided with a cylindrical portion of smaller diameter 23 which has a sliding fit on the handle I and with a portion of larger diameter 24 which fits over the helix 4 and extends downwardly to the region of the lower end of the handle. It is thus evident that all portions of the lower part of the mop which might engage a piece of furniture are relatively soft, the rubber protector 22 covering the lower portion of the handle I and the helix 4 and the sheath covering the wire loop 2, the stiffer and thicker outer portion of the sheath, which includes the yarn sections, being disposed on the outer side of the loop and the end of the wire being covered by the closed end of the sheath.

It is evident that the present invention affords a very simple mop having, aside from the mop body, but two essential parts, namely, the mop handle and the wire head consisting of a single piece of wire, and that the mop body may readily be removed when desired, and further that the parts of the mop body are effectively disposed for oor cleaning and to protect the furniture or the like as the mop is being used.

It should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

l. A rnop comprising a handle, a head secured to the handle and affording a wire loop with a free wire end adjoining the handle, said loop providing opposite relatively narrow U-shaped portions with their bight sections spaced from the handle, said'loop substantially lying in a single plane, and a mop body comprising yarn and a sheath, said sheath being slidahly mount-- ed on the loop and having a closed end covering the wire end,vthe yarn providing a vgoed of short yarn sections beneath the loop and an outer por ion -of much longer yarn sections, the U-shaped portions of the loop being of restricted Width to hold the short yarn sections packed in a pad therebeneath.

2. A mop head comprising a single still Wire,

' one end of which is formed into a helical coil providing a plurality of voonvolutions for threading onto a handle, the Wire providing a loop lying substantially in a single plane, the axis of the coil extending at an acute angle to said plane, said loop having a free end portion contiguous to one side ofr said coil and an intermediate part juxtaposed to the opposite'side of the coil, the

.tions beingr joined to the corresponding leg of he other U-shaped portion at saidintermediate part.

DOMENIC ARIOLI. 

